Science Brainstormers

RIVIERA BEACH — They called it an Olympiad, a fitting name given the Olympic-size importance many of the students placed on whether their mousetrap cars and water rockets could go the distance.

A crowd of hundreds cheered like crazed Dolphins fans when they saw one student's model car move the entire length of the Suncoast High School gymnasium. But some students were in tears when their labors of love barely made it past the starting line.

It all happened Saturday at the SECME Science and Engineering Olympiad. About 600 Palm Beach County students participated.

They represented Science, Engineering, Communication, Mathematics Enhancement clubs from 60 different schools. SECME is a national nonprofit group designed to encourage students, particularly minorities, to enter science and technology fields.

Some students participated in a Brain Bowl, where they answered questions about such diverse topics as the solar system and the animal kingdom in a game show format. Others tested the durability of their balsa-wood bridges or the "hang time" of their water rockets.

Trophies and ribbons were awarded to students who placed in the various competitions. Winners in some categories will get to advance to a state competition.

Perhaps the most spirited battle was the mousetrap car race. Each entrant fastened a mousetrap to a balsa-wood structure to propel the vehicle. Anything from compact disks to Lego wheels were used to make the cars roll.

Bianca Louis, 10, prayed as she watched her car run across the wooden gymnasium floor. She and two classmates at Roosevelt Elementary School in West Palm Beach spent two months working on the car after school. Bianca kept waiting for her car to stop. Instead, it resembled the Energizer Bunny as it kept going and going. It finally stopped only because it hit the wall on the other side of the gymnasium. Bianca grinned as the crowd cheered wildly at her team's accomplishment.

Not feeling as good was Sam Newmark, a fifth-grader at Del Prado Elementary west of Boca Raton. Seconds after he launched his car, one of the shafts holding the rear wheels came off, stopping it after just a few feet.

Sam was in tears. He had spent months building the car with two classmates."It didn't do like I practiced it at home," he said.

Each student got two shots at racing a vehicle, giving Sam's dad, Howie Newmark, a chance to make some repairs to the car before the final competition.

"You know what, Sam? The Indy 500 cars have parts break all the time," the dad said. "That's why they have a pit crew to fix them. This next one's going to do better."

And it did, making it halfway across the gymnasium. It was a respectable, though not winning, finish.

"One of the things we try to instill in them is that you do the best job possible, but you're not always going to win," organizer Corinne Measelle said. "What you have to ask yourself is, `What do I learn from this? What can I do differently next time I construct something?' That's a lifelong lesson."